Erastus Otis Haven was born on November 1, 1820, in Boston, Massachusetts.

He was an American educator and clergyman. Upon graduating from Wesleyan University in 1842, he established a life-long pattern of combining the ministry with teaching. This eventually led him to assume the presidencies of the University of Michigan (1863) and Northwestern University (1869), as well as the chancellorship of Syracuse University (1874). Haven was deeply interested in educational issues affecting students at all levels and in helping to develop a strong Methodist presence among institutions of higher learning. He also served as the editor of Zion's Herald in Boston, and in 1872, he became Secretary of the Board of Education for the Methodist Episcopal Church. Haven served two terms in the Massachusetts Senate, and in 1880, he was elected a bishop, residing in San Francisco. He received an honorary degree of D.D. from Union College in 1854 and LL.D. from Ohio Wesleyan University. When he died, he left an unfinished autobiography, completed from his writings by the editor in 1883.

In 1847, he married Mary Frances Coles (1825–1912). He died on August 2, 1881, in Salem, Oregon.

Hugh Reginald Haweis was born on April 3, 1838, in Egham, Essex, England.

He was an English cleric and writer, the husband of author Mary Eliza Haweis (1848–1898), and the father of painter Stephen Haweis (1878-1969). In his childhood, he suffered from a hip disease that caused his dwarfish figure. He was educated privately in Sussex and at Trinity College, Cambridge (B.A., 1859). He showed great musical sensibility and aptitude for violin playing and was the solo violinist of the Cambridge Musical Society. He travelled to Italy and served under Garibaldi in 1860. On his return to England, he was ordained and held various curacies in London becoming incumbent of St. James's, Marylebone in 1866. His unconventional methods of conducting the service, combined with his dwarfish figure and lively manner, soon attracted crowded congregations. In 1885, he was a Lowell lecturer in Boston and represented the Anglican Church at the Chicago Parliament of Religions in 1893. He wrote books on violins and church bells and contributed an article to the 9th edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica on “bell”. His best-known book was “Music and Morals” (1871). He was also an editor of Cassell's Magazine. He wrote the five-volume “Christ and Christianity” (1886–1887), as well as “Travel and Talk” (1896). His book “My Musical Life” (1884) offers a biographical tour through his career and his spiritual leanings in music.

In 1867, he married Mary Eliza Joy. He died on January 29, 1901, in Marylebone, London, England.

George Wesson Hawes was born on December 31, 1848, in Marion, Indiana.

He was an American geologist, educator, and author. He was educated at the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale College and also at the University of Bonn and Heidelberg, Germany (PhD., 1880). He devoted himself with zeal and success to the part of geology known as lithology, making original microscopic investigations, and publishing many papers in scientific journals. He was engaged in the geological survey of New Hampshire and was a professor at the Sheffield Scientific School at New Haven. In 1881, he was appointed curator of the National Museum in Washington, the position he held till his death. There he gathered a most extensive collection of all the building stones in the United States.

He died on June 22, 1882, in Manitou Springs, Colorado.